Notes

BAX: TONE POEMS, VOL. 2

This is Volume 2 in our series devoted to Bax’s tone poems and includes the Three Northern Ballads, three orchestral movements not previously performed together. The conductor Vernon Handley has been keen to promote them as a unified and almost symphonic whole. Red Autumn was originally an early solo piano work which Bax later arranged for two pianos. Subsequently the Bax Trust commissioned Graham Parlett to orchestrate the work in the style of Bax’s early orchestral writing. The other works are The Happy Forest, Nympholept and Into the Twilight. International Record Review wrote of Vol. 1: ‘This is the greatest single Bax record that I have heard; the orchestral playing is magnificent throughout… over and above the excellence of this fine orchestra [BBC Philharmonic] is the profound musicianship of Vernon Handley’s conducting.’

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Reviews

…this is the version to acquire

BBC Music Magazine

Vernon Handley’s revelatory Bax odyssey for Chandos comes up trumps again with this generous feast spanning a quarter of a century from the enchanted Donegal glens of the youthful Into the twilight (1908) to the rugged, wintry seascape of the Second Northern ballad, completed in 1934 if I encounter a more rewarding issue all year, I shall be surprised.

Gramophone Editor’s Choice

Handley’s command of this unfamiliar music is wonderfully assured; the BBC Philharmonic play superbly for him, and it is hard to imagine anyone else doing it better or with more commitment.

The Guardian

" Handley’s rapport with this music is so satisfying and convincing it makes this release self-recommending, one to delight Baxians and audiophiles alike. I would not wish to limit appreciation to those who already have the Baxian bug, for I cannot imagine a music lover drawn to Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Sibelius (and maybe Wagner) not responding enthusiastically to the musical wonders here.

International Record Review

Handley Champions Bax as Beecham did Delius. The excellent Chandos series pairing the former continues with seven richly nuanced, nimbly danced and sensitively phrased performances of tone poems composed just before, and orchestrated most just after the First World War. The BBC Philharmonic revels in Bax’s subtle instrumental variety - the nervous harp in Into the Twilight, the gurgling bass-clarinet in Nympholept that Handley summons like a snake-charmer. A sense of magic pervades much of the disc. Few conductors have found so much in Bax before, but many will in future.

The Times

The orchestral playing is superb and the recorded sound detailed and rich. I am new to Bax but on the evidence of this will be returning for more.
D Guest

D Guest

Does one really have to review a disc that is this good and has been reviewed several times.
Well YES as it is now in glorious HiRez sound.
The same performaces that others have raved about actually sound even more convincing.They are hardly mainstream works by somebody not even considered in the forefront as a composer?
Quite a variety and way better than the awful sounding cds issued earlier.Hardly surprising.Chandos ,How about the rest even the original analogues.

D Raffells

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About Chandos

Chandos Records is one of the world's premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems. The company has pioneered the idea of the 'series' and proudly includes series of such composers as Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Parry, Walton, Grainger, Berkeley and Bridge. Renowned for its superb sound quality, Chandos has won many prestigious awards for its natural sound.